The ‘C’ Student

‘A’ Students Teach, ‘B’ Students Work For ‘C’ Students

What is the logic behind this?

Personally, I think it makes perfect sense. A wise man once said “the smartest are the most unorganized” and I felt that. When you think about it, a person who understands things intellectually doesn’t have to keep things visibly organized, they may be able to keep mental notes and just remember where things are.

I’ve never been fond of the public school system and I don’t think that school is necessary to determine how successful a person will be. Education and grades are based on retention, not application. You may remember things for a quiz or exam, but will you remember them in 3 or 4 years when you get a job that may reference what was on the quiz? Short answer, not likely.

I’ve known a few ‘A’ students in my life. Many of them had no social lives and they spent so much time on studying and retaining material, they could almost repeat what was in the book verbatim. They focused so much on being able to repeat things and being correct that they couldn’t explain anything the book didn’t explain. Most of these students come from prominent or sheltered backgrounds and for them, succeeding in school is a form of self fulfillment. These are the types of people that follow the instructions, step by step. They usually graduate college with internship experience but no real work experience.

‘B’ students are the ones who don’t put in as much effort as ‘A’ students, but they are capable. Many of these students may have jobs or some other mild distraction that prevents them from fully focusing on school. If they’re in high school, they usually go to college. If they’re in college, their focus is on securing a job offer after college. Some of them may even take time off after college to travel or stay at home and regroup. No shade, but ‘B’ students remind me of hippies. They are pretty chill and are usually accepting of the offers that come their way. They are pretty reliable students for the most part. They have a mix of education and experience, but their grades allow them to secure stable positions.

And my favorite group, the ‘C’ students. The type of students that will pay tuition and not even attend the class. The students that will skip class because they have to work or go to an internship, but show up on exam day as if they have never missed a lecture. These students have to make trade-offs because they don’t have the luxury of time. ‘C’ students are usually pretty independent and their grades aren’t slipping because they don’t care, but they have to prioritize different things. Most ‘C’ students juggle the balls of life and don’t complain, they just maintain. They barely get by but as they say, C’s get degrees. ‘C’ students have the education and experience in the end.

As a ‘C’ student, I had my first job at age 16. I wasn’t close with my parents and I made the decision to go to college on my own. I got a bus ticket and came halfway across the country with $500 to my name. I slept on a friends’ sofa and got a part time job while I was in a 2 year program, then transferred to a 4-year university. I went to visit my family twice during my college career, once for the funeral of the woman that raised me. I took 15-18 credit hours every semester because my logic was that 12 credit hours wasn’t enough, BUT if I took 15 credit hours then anything above that was free (this is true) so I took an extra course and got 3 free credits each semester. Even if I got a B or C average, I didn’t have to pay for it. I took classes every semester, including summer courses for 3 ½ years until I graduated. Two years later, I’m self-employed and working towards being debt free. The people who bragged about their grades ask me for tips on how I did it.

Grades don’t define a person, character does. You can be a great student on paper, but how do you perform? How do you react in certain situations? Ultimately, how do you adapt to certain situations?

I never felt ashamed to talk about my grades and since I have graduated, I have not been asked what my undergraduate GPA is. Most employers don’t even care what your degree is in, they just want to know that you were able to see it through.